A Year of Movies

Week 11: March 12, 2010 to March 18, 2010
Total number of movies watched: 9

I'm catching up...really, I am. I'm also trying to get some writing done in between all the movies. I managed to write and polish one script, polish a second short script I wrote years ago, and I'm editing a novel while starting a new one. Perhaps I'm working on too many projects all at once!?

Oh...and I'm still trying to do that thing you're supposed to do every night....what's it called....oh yeah, sleep. I'm managing to find a few hours of sleep every night. I probably should try to find a few more hours here and there...but they hide from me so very well! Perhaps this weekend I'll have a chance to catch up on some missing zzzzzs.

Okay -- enough chit-chat (at least for now). Let's get to the movies.

116. Three to Tango -- A cute, funny rom-com with some really funny actors--Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, Oliver Platt. It has perhaps one of the better lines about a woman's posterior in it too. Perry's character is talking about Campbell's character and he says: "And she has an ass that is so sexy that I struggle to even understand it." What a line!

117. The Exorcist -- I don't know how I managed to live this long without seeing this movie before, but I finally saw the original (with added scenes not originally in the theatrical version). A disturbing movie at times, often dark and scary, and though so many other horrors have borrowed from it, or parodied it, I felt the movie held up fairly well. I'd put it up there with the original Omen movie as far as being a disturbingly creepy movie.

118. Payback -- This is the Mel Gibson theatrical version. I have the Director's Cut version on my pile of 'to be watched' (again) for this year. Gibson was great as the tough and mean Porter. Smart plot, sharp dialogue, and I think this was Lucy Lu's first big Hollywood movie too (she plays a sadistic hooker named Pearl in this). Based on the book, The Hunter by Richard Stark -- his main character, called Parker, is an excellent dark, tough, won't take shit from anyone type of anti-hero, and I'd love to see more of Richard Stark's "Parker" books made into movies. If I recall, the Director's Cut is actually darker and more in tone with the book series. I really enjoyed this movie.

119. Blood Work -- Another great Clint Eastwood movie. He plays a former FBI agent who has a heart attack in the middle of a foot chase and two years later, he's retired and recovering from a heart transplant. The source of his heart was a murder victim, and the victim's sister convinces him to come out of retirement to find her sister's killer. The tension builds every time he does something physical and he reaches for his heart. Good thriller.

120. The Time Machine -- An enjoyable sci-fi adventure with some incredible graphics and an interesting story. I read the book by H.G. Wells last year--and while they differ on many things, the basics of both were entertaining.

121. Speed -- Just a crazy ride. Sandra Bullock really shines in this movie. Even though the Mythbusters busted the bus-jumping stunt on their show (not a big shocker!), I still love this movie. Maybe someday I'll watch the sequel (though I've heard it wasn't really all that good).

122. Virtuosity -- Another sci-fi adventure--this time with a sadistic, dangerous, and very young looking Russell Crowe battling an equally young looking Denzel Washington in both cyberspace and in real life.

123. Snatch -- I guess I was just on a roll with the high-energy movies this week. Great caper movie. Funny characters. Funny plot. Lots of actors looking like they were having too much fun making this movie. And Brad Pitt--what the hell was he saying most of the time?! Actually, since I've seen this movie quite a few times, I've figured most of it out now--what a unique character. One of the few movies with Jason Statham in it where he actually doesn't fight--or take off his shirt (and it's still a good movie! LOL)

124. Pushing Tin -- A quirky comedy about two rival air traffic controllers (John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton) bent on one-upping each other. Also had Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie in it. Good movie overall.

Favorites this week include Payback, Blood Work and Snatch.